Attachment for container carriers



Jan. .22, 1935. FjLDES 1,988,942

ATTACHMENT FOR CONTAINER CARRIERS Filed Aug. 10, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet l WITNESSES: l N VEN TOR:

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ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 22, 1935. F. K. FILDES 1,983,942

ATTACHMENT FOR CONTAINER CARRIERS Filed Aug. 10, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOlf:

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ATTORNEYS.

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Jan. 22, 1935. F. K. FILDES 1,988,942

ATTACHMENT FOR CCJNTAINER CARRIERS Filed Aug. 10, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR: Frau/malt Kj I LMS,

- I BY WITNESSES: v

Patented Jan. 22, 1935 UNITED STATES" ATTACHMENT FOR. CONTAINER. CARRIERS j V 7 Frederick K; Fildes, Altoona, -Pa." Application August 10, 1933, Serial No. 1,684,482

5 Claims. (01.105-366) This invention relates to container carriers, such as railway cars, motor trucks, or trailers. and more specifically to attachments for holding a container against shifting while it rests on thecarrier, yet facilitating its removal incident tothe raising of the container 'a relatively. short distance. above-its seat. In certain respects'the invention represents an improvement upon the type of container carrier disclosed in U; S. Lette'rs Patent No. 1,845,594, granted to me on February 16, 1932. v

One object of the invention *is .toprovide, in combination with a' carrier having. container seating attachments, a series of abutments which are adapted to restrain lateral shifting of 'a' -container' and which are movable automaticallyto positions above and beneath thecontainer seats incident to the operations of lowering and raising the container with respectto the carriers Another object of the invention is to provide container seating attachments and shift-restraining abutments. disposed along'the sides of the car, with the movable abutments located beyond the side sills of the car, and with'their operating means so incorporated in the car as to leave a substantially unobstructed floorspace,

whereby the car may be readily converted ito other uses than for the carriage of containers.

Other objects and advantages characteristic of my present invention will become more fully apparent from the description :hereinafter set forth of one embodiment or example of the prac-- tice of the invention, having reference to'the accompanying drawings, whereof:

Fig I represents a part side elevation of a railway flat car fitted'with' attachments of my invention.

Fig. II represents a cross section of the same, taken as indicated by the lines IIII of Fig; I;

. Fig. III represents an enlarged plan view. of one container seating attachment and associated parts,'with the car floor removed and certain parts broken-away for clearness of illustration, and showing portions of two adjacent containers-in;dot-and-dash lines. Fig. .IV represents a cross section ofgthe same, taken as indicate'd'by the lines IV-IV of Fig. III. ;Fig.aV represents a cross section of the same, taken as'indicated bythe lines'VV of Fig. III. Fig. VIrepresents aperspective view of the lower portion of the shaft bearings illustrated in Fig.V.* I .9

Fig-VII represents aperspective viewof one of the container; seating-attachments and adjacent portions'oftthe-car fioorandsidesilLfl Fig. VIII represents a perspective viewof-a crank arm associated with one of. the movable. shift-restraining abutments; and;

Fig. IX represents a perspectiveview of one. of the mov'ableshift restrainingiabutments. 1 I With particularreferenceto Fig; I ofthe. draw: ings, the numeral-l designates. comprehensively a portion of.arailroad i'latgcaryand2 the flooror. platform, thereof. The car .is. substantially un-, obstructed: throughout. its .central floorv space. At, spaced intervals along theside .sills53; there are fixed attachments: desi nated: at 4; 4,2; :In View of the-fact that. the. severalattachments are duplicates of one :another, excepting: the end ones .4';,. the vfollowing "description is limited to an explanation of one individual attachment, there: byavoidingrepetition;v 'i' Eachfixedrattachment 5%, in he illustratedex: ample oi; myzinventio'n, isvin, the :form of a cast-f ing having.--an:;upstanding central abutment 5 which extends transversely of the car floor 2 for a short distance from the sidesof thQ car, and which serves-qto, prevent longitudinal shifting of containers; such as illustrated. at-.A-',aon :the car. Thecentralabutmentfi has at the top thereof inclined surfacesfiwhich assist inrguiding the cone tainers A to their proper seated positions. At

each side of the, central upstanding abutment 5 there are horizontal surfaces 7 vwhich serve as seating surfacesfor the bottom cornersof two adjacent containers A.- The base of each attach ment=4 is formed with a vertical depending flange 8'whichis riveted to the webof the 'side-sill 3. and with ahorizontal flange 9 which is attached to the top surface of the side'sill 3." The detailed construction of the attachment 4jis most clearly illustrated in Fig. VII. Each attachmentA has pivoted thereon a pair of swinging abutments 10, one for the container seated atoneend of the attachment, and the-other for the container seated. at the other end of theattachment.- Each attachment 4 also includes: ledges 11 formed at the ends thereof which serve as stops limiting the swinging'movement-of the movable abutments '10. "The end attachments 4 in most respects structurally. conform with; the foregoing descrip ion of the intermediate attachments 4 except that they are shaped to. accommodate only one swinging abutment 10,- and further explanation thereofis deemed unnecessary.

.The movable shift restraining abutments 10, which are illustrated most clearly in Fig. IX, are eachin the general form of a flatplate reinforced by a rib 14. Each abutmentis preferably formed, at its insid to!) cornerrwith aninclined surface, as indicated at 15, which serves to guide the corner of a container when the container is lowered onto its seat. Each movable abutment 10 is mounted on an actuating shaft 16 which extends inwardly along the floor 2 of the car from the attachment 4, 4', the shaft being mounted at its outer end in a bearing 17, which forms a part of 'the attachment 4, 4', and being mounted at its rear ,end in a bearing 18 which is secured .to the. underframe ,of the car, in the illustrated example, by means of a longitudinally extending Z-bar 19.

The rear bearing 18 is most clearly illustrated 'in Figs. V and VI, and is desirably formed 7 of two pieces, one piece 30 comprising aflat plate with part cylindrical formations 31 at the ends thereof, as shown in Fig. VI, and the other piece 32 fitting on top thereof, and having part cylindrical formations 33 which form with the corresponding formations of the piece 30 cylindrical openings forthe reception of the shaft 16. Bothpieces 30, 32. are joined together and secured to the underlying Z-bars 19.

The actuating shafts 16 for the movable abutments 10'are of circular cross section at the re-' gions within the front bearing 17 and the rear bearing 18, and are of square or nut-shaped cross section at the intermediate regions 20. The actuating shafts 16 are desirably formed'at'their rear-ends with shoulders 21 which engage the rear bearings 18' andprevent their removal. On each actuating'shaft 16, at the nut-shaped portion 20 thereof; there is mounteda crank arm 22 which is in the form of a shoe having a smoothly rounded surface 23' adapted to engage the bottom of a container as it is lowered onto the rail way car. The crank arms 22 are most clearly shown in Figs. IV- and VIII, and are'desirably reinforced by stiffening ribs 24 which extend substantially at'right angles to the rounded surfaces 23. i

It will be observed that each intermediate attachment 4 is provided with cornerseats 7 for two adjacent containers and with a pair of actuating shafts 16 and crank arms 22, one crank arm being adapted for engagement with one container, and the other crank arm being adapt ed for engagementwith the next adjacent container. To permit the installation of the actuating shafts 16, the crank arms 22, and the bearings 18, the car f'loor 2 is cut away in the vicinity of these parts. Moreover, atthe sides'of the car elevated supports for the containers, in the form of narrow wood strips 26, are preferably employed. The supporting strips 26, which are most clearly illustrated in Fig. VII,'extend longitudinally from one attachment 4 to another, and cause the containers to be raised slightly above the car floor 2, thus affording ample space for the disposition of the actuating shafts 16 and the rear bearings 18 between the car floor and the bottom surfaces of the containers.

The operation of the above described container carrier is as follows: In the event that containers A are to be transferred onto the railway car 1 by overhead hoisting apparatus, the operator proceeds to lower a container onto the car in a position directly above and square with the seating space into which the container is to be lowered. Incident to the lowering of the container, its bottom surface will strike the curved surfaces 23 of the crank arms 22 and cause the actuating shaft 16 to be rotated. With rotation of the actuating shafts 16 the movable abutments 10 are caused to be swung in a vertical plane from positions beneath the top surfaces of the elevated strips 26 and corner seats '7 to positions above the same, as represented at the left hand of Fig. I. Moreover, while the container is bein thus lowered onto the floor of the car, it will be guided in its movement by engagement with the inclined surfaces 6 of the upstanding rigid abut ments 5. After one or more containers have beenthus deposited upon the car, the movable abutments 10 will be effective to prevent lateral shifting of the containers, and the upstandingrigid abutments will be effective to prevent longitudinal shifting of the containers.

When a container is removed from the car by means of an overhead hoist, as soon as the bottom surface of the container is raised a short distance above the car floor 2, the corresponding set of movable abutments '10 will fall by gravity, to positions beneath or substantially level with the top surface of the supporting strips 26 and the corner seats '7, with upward swinging of the crank arms 22. The parts will then assume the posi tions illustrated at the right hand of Fig. I. Accordingly, when a container has thus been raised a slight distance above the car floor, it. is in readiness tobe shifted laterally to a truck or station platform: or any other location where it is desired toplace the container.

It is to be particularly notedthat the con tainer carrier of this invention can be used with many types of container transfer apparatus, and that inasmuch as the central floor space of the carrier is unobstructed, the carrier may at once be converted to ordinary fiat car use. Moreover,

the container carrier of this invention is particularly useful where containers are shifted by hand-operated hoisting apparatus, for the containers need only be'raised a short distance above the carrier floor preparatory to their lateral shift ing onto or off the carrier. 7

While I have described and illustrated one particular example of my invention, it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form of the apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the annexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination with a container carrier, spaced container supporting attachments on the sides of the carrier, container shift-restraining abutments pivotally mounted on said attachments beyond the sides of the carrier and normally urged by gravity to depressed positions not obstructing the lateral transfer of containers, shafts connected to and. extending from said abutments inwardly along the floor of the carrier, and crank arms on said shafts adapted to engage the bottom of a container, said crank arms serving to raise the abutments to operative shift-restraining positions incident to the lowering of a container onto the carrier.

2. In combination with a container carrier, spaced container supporting attachments on the sides of the carrier, said attachments including abutments extending transversely of the car floor and effective to prevent longitudinal shifting of a container, additional abutments for preventing lateral shifting of the container pivotally mounted on said attachments beyond the sides of the carrier and normally urged by gravity to depressed positions below the container supporting surfaces of said attachments, shafts connected to and extending from said abutments inwardly along the floor of the carrier, and crank arms on said shafts adaptedto engage the bottom of a container, said crank arms serving to raise the lateral shift-restraining abutments incident to the lowering of a container onto the carrier.

3. In combination with a container carrier, spaced container supporting attachments on the sides of the carrier having seats above the top surface of the floor of the carrier, container shiftrestraining abutments pivotally mounted on said attachments beyond the sides of the carrier and normally assuming positions beneath said container seats, shafts connected to and extending from said abutments inwardly along the floor and beneath the container seats, and crank arms on said shafts adapted to engage the bottom of a container, said crank arms serving to raise the abutments to operative shift-restraining positions incident to the lowering of a container'onto the carrier.

4. In combination with a container carrier, spaced attachments on the sides of the carrier having seats adapted to support the corners of two adjacent containers, container shift-restraining abutmentspivotally mounted on said attachments beyond the sides of the carrier and normally assuming positions beneath said corner seats, shafts connected to and extending inwardly from said abutments along the floor of the carrier, and crank arms on said shafts adapted to engage the bottom of a container and serving to raise the abutments to operative shift-restraining positions incident to the lowering of a container onto the carrier.

5. In combination with a container carrier, spaced attachments on the sides of the carrier having seats adapted to support the corners of two adjacent containers, a pair of container shiftrestraining abutments pivotally mounted on each said attachment beyond the sides of the carrier and normally assuming horizontal positions beneath said corner seats, shafts connected toand extending inwardly from each said abutment along the floor of the carrier, and crank arms having smoothly rounded ends adapted to engage the bottoms of the containers and serving to raise the abutments to operative shift-restraining positions incident to the lowering of the containers onto the carrier.

FREDERICK K. FILDES. 

